Not far from the northern Italian coastal city of Genoa lies the scenic seaside suburb of Nervi. As Genoa lover Di Mackey, and a few others know, sleepy little Nervi has its attractions. My other half is from Genoa, and first took me to Nervi long ago. I liked it, and you might too.
The last time I was in Genoa, two weeks ago, we went to Nervi and I took a few photographs, which you can see below.
What’s at Nervi? Quite a lot actually. There is the scenic little fishing harbour, the seaside walk, and the peace and quiet of Nervi Park. Along the seaside walk, which runs across the top of the rocky seashore, there are restaurants, and a rather well hidden foccacia bakery, which does very good focaccia bread, which is either plain, with onions on top, or with a cheese filling. It’s rather tasty, and is eaten for breakfast in coffee bars by residents of Genoa, but can be eaten at any time!
Then there are the splendid views, especially in the direction of the gorgeous Cinque Terre, about which I have written before. You can see some photographs of the Cinque Terre here in my obviously entitled Photographs of Monterosso, Le Cinque Terre, Italy post.
Here are a few snaps of Nervi, although I did not take any photos of the park which is inhabited by a grey squirrel population, so take nuts if you want some cute squirrel on your hand shots, or if you fancy squirrel stew!
Nervi near Genoa, Italy
If you find yourself in Genoa for whatever reason and have a morning or so to kill, then hop on the number 15 bus from Brignole Station, and wait until it stops at the end of its line, or ask to be told when the bus stops near Via Felice Gazzolo, if your Italian is up to it.
When you get off at the Via Felice Gazzolo stop, take the road of the same name down to the little harbour, which also happens to be the start of the Nervi seaside walk. Alternatively, if you get off at the end of the line, walk down Via Delle Palme, which is lined with palm trees and more than a few elegant houses, and you’ll end up at Nervi station (Yes, you can get to Nervi by train too). You can buy nuts for the Nervi park squirrels in the station café, by the way.
Walk by the Sea
Stop reading, start speaking
Stop translating in your head and start speaking Italian for real with the only audio course that prompt you to speak.
Once at the station, take the curved path on your right just before the station which should take you to a section which runs beneath the railway tracks. As you enter the bridge area, look to your right and see of the focaccaria is open. If it is, pop in and get some focaccia! Oh, and it can get rather hot under the sun, so get some water too, even if you’ll find a few watering holes along the path.
Once you emerge from the bridge, from which you will be able to see the sea, you can turn left or right. Right will take you to Nervi harbour, whereas left will take you to the end of the path and to an entrance to Nervi park.
Fine Sunbathing. Not.
Don’t be tempted to go down to the rocks below the path to sunbathe, even though lots do. You can be fined for trying to tan yourself in this spot, apparently.
Go to the Park
If the sun is blazing and hot, then at the station, turn left to take the road which runs alongside the station car park, and you’ll end up in the park. Explore at your leisure! Note too that there is a rather good adventure playground for the little ones tucked away in the park. To the rear of the play area, there is also a café which sells snacks, drinks and run of the mill ice creams.
Do the Nervi Walk
As you will see from one of the photos, there is also a pool by the sea, but you’ll have to pay for the pleasure of splashing about in this pool – and the price will not be appealing for budget travellers.
Here are some photographs of Nervi to give you a flavour of this hidden Italian gem, which also happens, like so much of Italy, to be fabulously photogenic:
Nervi is a lovely spot, and it is well worth spending a little time there. It’s also great in winter too – I did the walk on Christmas Day a good few years back and the temperature was around 24°C. Not bad for the ‘bleak’ mid-winter!
